Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM), also commonly referred to as 3D printing, is a process of making three-dimensional (3D) objects from a digital file such as Computer-Aided Design (CAD) data. Combining 3D printing with 3D scanning also makes possible 3D copying, i.e., a process where first a 3D digital model of an object is made by 3D scanning of the object and then a 3D copy of the 3D object is made by 3D printing a copy of the digital model. While this technology can bring many benefits, the advent of low-cost 3D print manufacturing also may increase the potential for counterfeiting. 3D printing and 3D scanning technologies can make it easier for one person to reproduce an object that is of another person's design.
Various methods are used today to prevent counterfeiting and provide authentication. Seals, watermarks and holograms are designed to provide reasonable protection against counterfeiters. Bar codes, QR codes and RFID chips are used to identify and authenticate objects. And transparent objects, such as glass bottles, may have 3D symbols engraved on their surface and even embedded in them. The problem with most of these methods is that they are visible and therefore can be copied by many 3D printing systems. Thus, so can the objects they intend to protect.
Prior art methods also try to solve this problem by aiding in the enforcement of intellectual property rights. However, current intellectual property laws and protection mechanisms are only effective in enforcing and/or preventing individual sources of intellectual property theft. Such laws and protection mechanisms, however, may be less effective in enforcing and/or preventing distributed or multiple sources of intellectual property theft, as may be the case with individuals utilizing 3D printing technology to produce items that infringe protected or proprietary designs.
Finally, there exist no methods to prevent the scanning of a 3D object to develop a digital model of the 3D object.
This document describes methods and systems that are directed to at least some of the problems described above.